The climate-smart livestock project in Ecuador: a new model to mitigate climate change and increase livestock productivity

Summary

Ecuador Climate-Smart Livestock Management (CSLM) was a pioneering project in Latin America that has achieved remarkable results. The project was able to raise livestock productivity and producer incomes while improving climate change resilience and lowering greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. In less than four years, the income of participating livestock families improved by 10.7%, and GHG emissions per unit of livestock commodities (milk and meat) decreased by 17.7%. The CSL project introduced approaches combining three axes: increasing productivity, reducing emissions and climate risk in agriculture. 

The project anchored CSL approach in public policy while also incorporating it at the producer level. The project empowered pilot farmers by making them co-executors of the project and creating financial mechanisms to provide aid and ownership of CSL practices. The project also demonstrated how working with private sector such as banks, service and IT providers, and farms, can expand and improve project results.  

Project objective and approaches

The Climate-Smart Livestock Management (CSLM) project was designed to provide an alternative to traditional livestock. The objective of the CSLM project was “to reduce soil degradation, increase adaptive capacity to climate change, and mitigate GHG emissions by implementing cross-sectorial policies and sustainable livestock management techniques, with emphasis on vulnerable provinces”.  The objective was set to be achieved through four components:

The CSLM project applied a combination of environmental and productive approaches that included: agricultural planning of grasslands, management of pastures and soils, practices for breeding, reproduction, feeding and animal health, conservation and restoration of ecosystems, among others.

Good practices for the project's success

Reduce and remove GHG emissions

The Global Livestock Environmental Assessment Model and its interactive on line version GLEAM-i developed by FAO were used as a basis to develop two tools to monitor GHG emissions (one at the national level, and the other at farm level). The farm-level tool web application displays total farm emissions, the intensity of emissions and a reference value for the region. Based on this information, farmers were able to improve their agriculture and forestry production systems and reduce their emissions. The monitoring of the impacts of the implementation of good livestock practices indicate that 75 271 tonnes of CO2eq were reduced over four years of field execution (Ecuador, Ministry of the Environment and Water and Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock, 2020). The methodology for the quantification of the sequestered carbon in pastures was developed by the project team. It increased carbon fixation in soil by 138 231 tonnes over the duration of the project, in turn improving quality of the grassland used for animal feed (Source: MAAE and MAG, 2020). Monitoring GHG emissions and adaptive capacity in the livestock sector after the implementation of climate-smart livestock practices is one of the most important activities of the project. The results of monitoring on 165 pilot farms indicated that productivity improved by 12.9 percent, GHG emissions were reduced by 26.3 percent and adaptive capacity was increased by 10.6 percent (Source: MAAE and MAG, 2020). 

Policy and strategy support for sustainable livestock practices

The project had an impact on public policy as it was instrumental in having the CSLM approach incorporated in Ecuador’s National Agriculture Plan for 2020–2030; the project worked together with the MAG and MAEE on a proposal for a sustainable livestock farming strategy for the Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions (NAMA). At provincial level, the Loja province integrated the methodology for the land use and the CSLM approach in their 2020-2025 development plan (LUDP). In addition, the project proposed guidelines to update LUDPs using a CSLM approach in the provincial DAGs of Imbabura, Guayas, Manabí, Morona Santiago, and Santa Elena. 

Encourage the adoption of sustainable production methods

The project’s CSL practices were adopted over approximately 40 000 hectares consisting of 165 pilot farms and 871 replica farms. The private company El Ordeño established an alliance with the project in order to obtain training and practical demonstration of CSLM practices for its milk-producers in the canton of Cayambe, province of Pichincha (outside of the project implementation area).  The producers in the pilot farms signed a 3-year co-execution letter of agreement (LoA) with the project, committing to continue to implement the CSLM practices; participate in the training provided by the project; use the materials, inputs and equipment provided by the project in a sustainable manner; complement the investments required for the implementation of the CSL practices with their own resources.

Developed financial tools and incentive mechanism

The project promoted the creation of a Green Credit Line with BanEcuador that allows the financing of CSL practices by local farmers. The operations under the credit line were tested under a pilot with producers associated with the CSLM project. By February 2020, 180 operations with BanEcuador in the seven provinces availed a credit line of around USD 935 000 and an emission reduction potential of 1 TCO2eq/year.  In addition, the project’s significant contribution resulted in the creation of seven “community savings banks” in the provinces of Imbabura (2), Napo (1), Morona Santiago (1), Loja (2) and Manabí (1). In the same period, more than USD 25 000 was also mobilized in microcredits to 104 producers to finance CSLM practices. 

Strengthening and developing capacities

The CSLM project worked with stakeholders from two target groups on training of trainers using the farmer field school methodology to training on the CSL practices and show their contribution on the meat and milk production, technology improvement, the quality of the soil, pastures and access to water. In total, 859 training workshops took place as part of the 37 field schools established, with a total of 1 056 producers who graduated across the different regions. In addition, the project developed training for 448 technicians from government institutions.

Gender-responsive measures adopted

The CSLM project developed a gender equality strategy with gender-sensitive approaches geared to smallholders, female heads of households, and women who head livestock farming.  The project contributed to the formulation of gender indicators for a Measurement, Reporting and Verification (MRV) system on national climate action. It actively improved women’s participation in accessing capacity development activities, including working jointly with couples to support the role of women as drivers of the transformation and appropriation of CSL practices. Below are some results of the Gender-responsive measure adopted:  

• 42% of female producers were trained in financial education
• 49% of users of credit and savings systems were women
• 46% participation rate of women in the management and decision-making spaces of savings banks
• The project established seven Agricultural Services Centers (ASC) that provide technical services to the producers for implementing CSL practices. 15% of ASC members or constituents are women and participate in decision-making processes
• In relation to the access to financial support for women, 25% of the green line credits from BanEcuador were granted to women while 55% of the credits granted by the savings banks were provided to female producers

Coordinated work with Indigenous Peoples and local communities

The project paid specific attention to vulnerable groups and other key stakeholders from the project’s seven provinces. The project’s equity strategy included territorial needs guidelines including on indigenous communities and vulnerable groups. In Otavalo canton, province of Imbabura, where indigenous communities are present – the project established a cooperation agreement with the NGO “Children of the Andes Humanitarian”. The NGO supports indigenous communities to implement CSL practices on the farm owned by the educational centre, providing it with a dairy processing plant, to give added-value to the milk produced by the centre and the neighbouring communities.

Knowledge products & publications

Project knowledge management materials produced by the project include a CSL knowledge management platform, which has a series of thematic documents on eight topic areas. The project produced a geoportal, including an online tool for monitoring GHG emissions, an online tool for calculating climate risk and adaptation capacity, and a comprehensive  multimedia section on CSL practices with educational videos and infographics. The knowledge management products are available in the Spanish website. Finally, a YouTube channel in Spanish was also created to compilated the CLSM practices.